09-03-26 Spirit Mornings Show

0:00This podcast courtesy of the Spirit Catholic Radio Network to learn more about Spirit Catholic Radio including how to support Spirit Catholic Radio and other great programs on the Spirit Catholic Radio Network head to spiritcatholicradio.com or download the Spirit Catholic Radio app. Good morning to you it is Thursday September 3rd, 2026 or we like to refer to it as Friday

2:27so you are the co-host of Ideal Relationships Mondays at 8 p.m. Central on Spirit Catholic Radio. We have Deacon Tom Deal here on the show. We refer to Lord Buddenberg as our Friday friend Deacon Tom Deal is our Monday friend. We have an idea of what he brings to the table. He's got a lot of knowledge and a very helpful advice for relationships of all kinds whether it's marriage or dating or what have you. Getting in the studio with him when you guys do this show together you're kind of the target demographic of ideal relationships right you're one of the many target I guess everybody is a target demo. Yeah so we brush on all types of relationships. The initial focus of the show is really to focus in on dating and marriage but we've branched into other facets like you know the workplace dynamics and friends how that operates neighbors just relationships as a whole. What's interesting about that and working alongside him in that is you learn so many

3:29things about the intricacies of relationships. Often times it feels so simple at first right like if relationships going well everything is easy flowing conversations come out and everybody is getting a long smiles on the face but there's a lot of hidden dynamics at play with relationships as well and when it becomes complicated on the surface level it's sometimes hard to see and that's what's been interesting doing the show alongside him is he's able to dive into that he has professional training and knowledge on these topics and break open what it is behind the surface level issue so if you can present a problem to him that you're having in relationship he's able to open that up in a way that helps you understand both sides whether it's your own side of the issue or the other persons and that's often the hard part in relationships and sometimes why they break down is because we put up these walls and barriers but it's because we don't understand the other person's viewpoint and he's so good about explaining

4:31that and especially when it comes to dating and marriage you know that's absolutely a fascinating category because that's when that's where everybody's you know a lot of people their vocation is to be married so when you're going through that phase of life like I am in the dating phase it's really interesting because you can kind of see how people respond how they reciprocate and then you kind of understand oh this is how this person's may be feeling and again you don't want to make a lot of assumptions but with a little bit of knowledge you can kind of get a feel for it and then it allows you to change your tone the way you approach a conversation because it helps you put yourself in their shoes and then when you can do that you find the relationships help build and grow and foster in a way that is so beautiful and loving and just by working alongside him it's helped me and just my own personal relationships and building those up and you know we're none of us are perfect we're all going to make mistakes and we certainly do that in our relationships is you know being married for what are you 20 years now with you?

5:35I'm in up on 20 years here in a few weeks congratulations that's beautiful thank you it's it's a it's a blessing for sure so what have you gotten out of ideal relationships not just the fact that this is a show you're a part of but I know there are the and I get the same I feel the same way when I talk with Deacon Tom deal he'll say something and I go oh yeah my wife and I have had that problem my wife and I have had to deal with that so what if you take it away how is it helped you as a single man in your 30s? you know just in my dating phase of life it's helped me in a lot of ways so we've had shows specifically on dating we had some on what it looks like to date for marriage and approach it especially as a faithful Catholic in that light you know it's very different to obviously especially when you're younger you're usually not focused on marriage a lot you know those early years of high school even the later years of high school a lot of times people aren't looking at marriage nowadays you know your average young adult isn't getting married until their early 30s these days and so what it's what it's helped me understand is there's a purpose behind

6:39every date you go on you're not just there necessarily have fun time you should have a fun time Deacon deals very prominent about that he goes with the three F's faith family and fun you should have those three as the core foundations of your relationships and it makes perfect sense he didn't have a fourth F in there he didn't have football in there he didn't have football yeah so faith family and fun and so he uses those as the core basics for every relationship so how do you how do you take that out so I interweave that you know into a date let's say if I go on a date you know in high school is very much just the more the fun aspect right that was what you were focused on yeah just somebody to have fun with that in public and you know yeah and you're young you're a kid you're not really thinking this is going to be marriage or long term necessarily maybe it is and that's beautiful it is high school square it's one of the coolest things I think but when when you're in those relationships you do have to focus on the family and the faith aspect as well of course God is at the center of everything and when you put him first in that relationship

7:45and you want to bring God into it right he's in the middle but make sure he sticks out is your number one target right you're you're going on a date with somebody so like if I'm going on a date with someone you know I'm looking at them trying to learn about them and and get to know them but at the same time I'm seeing their relationship with God and how the interweaves with my relationship with God and that builds that beautiful foundation and then one of the things it's easier in high school I think is you know you're usually living at home you're near your family in that aspect so at least in my personal experience when I was dating girls you know it's very common to end up either at their house or they come over to my house and you know we meet each other's parents if not through sporting events or through school activities so that was very prominent but now as I'm coming adult moved out you know I live out of town for my parents and in a different state completely so my parents don't necessarily get to meet the women that I date and because of that it's common with the women too right like they've either moved from out of

8:46a state out of the city or you know even if they've been born and raised here in Omaha I'm not from Omaha so meeting the parents is often usually a bigger deal so interweaving the family aspect is something I've been trying to be more intentional about of course to that point yes right because you do that yeah you're not doing that in the first you know three dates or whatever yeah right that's something when once you're becoming more more serious but Deku deal has been great about including that and making sure that's a piece of it because sometimes I think we forget about that we leave one of those aspects out whether it's the family the phase of the fun and when we lose one of those core foundations that's where the fact the relationship sometimes lose the intimacy you're trying to build with that person pretty fascinating and like you said there are so many dynamics that can help or hurt a relationship that whether it's at the dating level or the marriage level it could be they're upbringing their family life friends could be kind of you know nippin in their ear about

9:47you know what their opinions are in social media and all that kind of stuff so it's such a I'm so glad we have this kind of show it's long overdue for your generation and for for marriages who for people who've been married a long time too and it's it's rare that I hear from young men a lot of times our listeners you know we tend to be on the older side and and we tend to have more female listeners the male listeners not that we don't have male listeners of course we do but it's rare that I hear especially from the younger men and that was what stuck out to me is when we were having Deku deal along with you and Jen in the morning occasionally I would get emails from younger men that were listening saying hey I would like a dating show you know we know this with young people loneliness depression isolation a lot of them are dealing with this problem and especially when it comes to dating young men are having a really difficult time and in women too really for that matter but that's where the show kind of became more prominent of an idea because I'd always thought

10:54Deku deal would be good on a show but was there a need for it in our demographic and and we started to see that with some of the emails some of the research him we did a survey a while back and we had like eight prominent categories and we had a strategic plan session that we set every five years here at the station and one of the objectives was to create local programming that targeted those aspects within the survey and one of them was relationships of marriage and so we're hoping this show kind of targets that aspect that our listeners have been asking for. And the important part about this particular show here on Spirit Catholic Radio it is a Christ centered show. Deku and Tom deal as advice and shares information from a Christ centered point of view of these are the listeners and the young adults and the married couples you know if they're struggling or they're just kind of what kind of floating out they're wondering how to do things when it comes to their relationship with their families their friends whoever they're dating

11:57you know it is all Christ centered information from Deku and Tom deal it's called ideal relationships you can check it out Mondays at 8 p.m. Central on Spirit Catholic Radio or just search ideal relationships wherever you get podcasts ideal is actually spelled with two L's because that's how Deku and Tom deal spells his name IDELL search ideal relationships wherever you get podcasts it's 7 12 spirit mornings weather brought to you by Sentinel Ag. Pretty easy forecast to remember throughout the state of Nebraska it's going to be sunny with highs in the mid to upper 90s we are seeing some rain and some lightning in eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa but again that'll make way for mostly sunny skies again with highs in the mid 90s across the state of Nebraska so a bishop a public official a priest and a lawyer walk into a bar it's no it's not a joke it's an actual event and Tom Venser from the Nebraska Catholic conference is going to tell us about that next you're reading from the book of wisdom simply I learned about wisdom and ungrudgingly do I share

13:04her riches I do not hide away for two men she is an unfailing treasure those who gain this treasure win the friendship of God to whom the gifts they have from discipline commend them the word of the Lord thanks be to God good morning God's blessings to you on this feast of Pope St. Gregory the Great one of the four great doctors of the western church an incredible um teacher of the faith very wise man a great saint I just don't know there's so much it could be said about Gregory that um I could be on here for hours but uh Jan and Damien are waiting for me to get done so they can pick up one the on the rest of the morning programming all I will say is this Gregory was a monk he was the first monk to be elected Pope and he uh rather enjoyed his life as a monk and he did not want to um he didn't want to sacrifice it and yet he was elected unanimously as Pope in the year 590 and he served till I want to say

14:10604 something like that don't quote me on that he gave up his preferred lifestyle to take on the greatest burden in the church that of being the Pope and because he did that you and I benefit from his teachings to this day you know every once in a while every once in a while God's going to ask you to sacrifice something that you really like that you're comfortable with don't be afraid to do so following the example of Gregory the great following the example of blessed virgin Mary trust that what he's got in mind is even better than your plans thank you God bless God bless you Father Mark McCurcher for providing morning prayer this week here on spirit mornings the spirit morning spotlight community this morning is battle Creek Nebraska and the

15:10weather in battle Creek Nebraska very similar to the rest of Nebraska it's going to be sunny with highs in the mid to upper 90s in battle Creek Nebraska Jev where they listen and I see you might have found a couple of interesting facts about battle Creek well I do have my own interesting fact myself they are listening 88 3 KOLB one of my personal favorite signals I think it just rolls off the tongue real nice just because of the KOLB KOLB 88.3 it's got the rhyme the rhythm you know all those things so actually fascinating real quick side story here my dad he was one of nine children grew up in a house where there was a creek in his backyard he they always called on a creek yeah and so I grew up calling a creek and then I found out it is properly pronounced Creek actually but so he grew up in this creek and they would have battles like play army battles right him and all his brothers and the neighbor kids and so we will always you know go back in that creek too when I was a kid he take us down there we get a go especially in the winter when the when the the

16:12water would freeze we go out on the ice and we walk through the tunnels and through the forest and you tell us about all the battles he used to have as a kid so when I hear about battle Creek Nebraska you're taking of your dad's experience yeah yeah bring me back to my childhood but yeah same past battle Creek is the home to Deacon Mel he's actually one of the key figures in getting 88.3 launched many many years ago now so thank you big shout out to you Deacon Mel and many more to help get us KOLB and put 88.3 on the air that we now have great Catholic radio in the land of northeast Nebraska Norfolk love that community so much and of course if you're not listening on 88.3 you can listen on the free spirit Catholic Radio app or online at spirit Catholic Radio.com yeah I already used the joke Tom Venter a bishop they all walk into a bar that whole thing Tom Venter from the Nebraska Catholic conference thank you so much for joining us and yeah you are

17:12doing something pretty cool pretty special and pretty informative at the same time it's it's called bishop and bruise and this is a way to get people together and and discuss some of the stuff going on with AI and in all the things that are changing because of AI and so how does this affect a typical Catholic listener this kind of an event what are you picturing happening at this event Tom yeah so yeah great to be with you all and good morning to all of our listeners out there in spirit Catholic Radio land yeah at the Nebraska Catholic conference we're really excited to be hosting some events here coming up with our three bishops in Nebraska we're going to host an event in Omaha and event in Lincoln and later in October we're going to host an event in Brande Island in there called bishop and bruise and like you were talking about they we're going to have a focus on poplios and cyclical on AI and Magnificati Manitas and we are going to talk about what it means

18:16to be living in the digital age and the technological revolution that we're going through right now with artificial intelligence and so it's going to be an amazing discussion to talk about what does poplios wisdom have to tell us who's in cyclical what's our learned experience more broadly about how AI is affecting our life as Catholics and as Nebraska and as just sort of citizens of the world and so it's going to be pretty incredible discussions that we're going to have the one in Omaha is going to take place Wednesday September 16th at the German American Society and that's going to feature Archbishop McGovern that's going to feature state senator Rita Sanders it's going to feature a father Kevin Fitzgerald from the School of Medicine at Creighton I'm going to moderate that panel and then the next night we have an amazing bishop and bruise event in Lincoln on Thursday September 17th that's going to be at the post in the telegraph district in Lincoln and that's going to feature Bishop Conley that's going to feature the attorney general Mike Kultures and again it's going to also feature

19:19father Kevin Fitzgerald from Creighton School of Medicine and then myself as the moderator in like I said we're going to we're going to explore the encyclical we're going to explore all the different dimensions that it has to tell us about you know the AI whether it's dealing with education or or whether it's dealing with care for the environment or whether it's dealing with our relationships with one another or or whether it's going to displace jobs you know we're going to have a we're going to cover a lot of ground so whether you feel like you don't know anything about AI whether you feel like you're the world's expert or you're somewhere in between you're definitely invited to come it's going to be a great night for community for fellowship we're going to dive deep into our faith about how artificial intelligence applies our life how would a place of the world around us and we're going to enjoy a nice cold brew because it is Bishop and brews after all that's the event so I look forward to having people in Omaha on Wednesday September 16th at the German American Society Lincoln Thursday September 17th at the post in the telegraph district

20:24in those events we'll start at seven o'clock but feel free to come early stay late and just enjoy the community as we get together this Catholics for a nice kind of theology on tap like event yeah I like it yeah really exciting there again speaking with Tom Venser and Tom with the Nebraska Catholic Conference I know you guys have been utilizing some of this technology as well as we are we're talking about AI social media we know this technology has a lot of upsides to it in fact you know we're using it right now through our airway of spreading the gospel message which is really cool but technology also has a dark underbelly especially when it comes to social media how big tech companies are targeting children and adolescents now along those lines are turning general Mike Hilgers just the other day actually announced some of the pretty big and promising news that will help keep big tech and social media companies in check tell us more about this legal victory for kids across the country yeah so yeah like we know you know with AI with social media with technology there can be a lot of good that comes out of these things but there can be a lot of bad things that come out and a lot of really really evil things that come out of these things

21:28and so we've got to be constantly vigilant about how social media AI tech how it's being used you know we have to be the guardians over its use over its development over its design and yeah just the other day the attorney general Mike Hilgers announced a landmark $7 billion dollar settlement with meta meta is you know the company that runs Instagram Facebook messenger what's happened you know probably most everybody out there listening has those apps on their phone and so yeah we're talking a $17 billion multi-state settlement I don't know about you but I actually can't comprehend the concept of billions of dollars but but meta is going to meta is going to be paying out $17 billion dollars through this settlement which was started because 47 states were suing meta for knowingly designing addictive social media platforms that harm youth that harms the mental health of our youth and basically meta you know essentially said you know

22:32basically when you make a settlement like that it's sort of yeah we're guilty of it and so they're paying out a huge settlement for their activities Nebraska is going to receive $201 billion of that settlement and I'll be very anxious to see you know how does how do these funds get turned around and use here in Nebraska to help repair and restore our young people who have been and will continue to be negatively impacted by social media in big tech we know that social media in big tech are having huge impacts on mental health on relationships on self-perception all sorts of things and you know if you want to learn more about that read you know Jonathan Heights the anxious generation or look up some podcasts with Jonathan Heights on the anxious generation and you'll get a lot of data that's in a lot of insight that really is concerning on this topic but yeah huge huge legal victory on that front for kids and child protection and this is something that you're going to be diving deeper and when you do these

23:34Bishop and Bruce events in Omaha and Lincoln in just a couple of weeks now for those who might want this information do you have it posted on the website for the Bishop and Bruce events yeah you can for the Bishop and Bruce events you can find more information about those events at our website for the Nebraska Catholic conference that website is necaflex.org that's letter n letter e caffelic.org you can also go to our Facebook page our Instagram page where we have other posts on there and yeah for Bishop and Bruce events on September 16th in Omaha on September 17th in Lincoln come one come all share it with your friends but we are going to talk about these major topics like AI social media tech and how we should be approaching these as catholics and in light of poplios recent encyclical. I know you're going to have it set up as a panel that you know you guys are going to be set up as a panel will it be a Q&A as far as anybody that attends that might have concerns or questions they want to share. Absolutely yeah this will be a

24:36great opportunity to ask questions of our panelists or whether you want to ask a question of archbishop maguvern or bishop conley or you have a question for attorney general hiltures or state senator Rita Sanders or father Fitzgerald it's definitely going to be very interactive and we're really excited we get some cool ideas we have for the panel so it's going to be an exciting panel interesting panel and an interactive panel and also not only that it's going to be a time for you to connect with other catholics so that we can be talking about this in community because I don't know about you all but sometimes I feel like caches days I feel like I'm doing this alone I'm by myself does anybody else does anybody else with me in this battle you know to build up the common good and protect you's dignity and then I remember with these events I look around and I go wait there's a lot of amazing people who are in the same fight with me bearing the light of Christ in the public square so yeah it's a it's a it's a moment for a community in solidarity as well so we can do this together yeah it's great the christian community is huge and sometimes we're a little bit silent but when we have these opportunities we get out there and yeah you can see you're

25:40not alone now I want to get back to this meta thing because this really is big news while the financial settlement with meta is huge what's the whole story with this big tech sentiment that will help impact the country and what are the measures Tom will meta have to undertake to protect from harmful social media practices yeah so yeah with attorney general my kilders announcing this major settlement with meta again instagram facebook messenger whatsapp you know for the harm that they're doing to you there's not only the 17 billion dollar multi-state settlement that meta is going to have to pay out but they're also going to have to engage in the number of basically um design changes with their social media apps to help protect kids from harmful social media practices and these are honestly the more important things that are going to be put into place the money is really important I'm sure we'll be able to use that for good things but these protections that they're going to be forced to include in their apps is is critical these are

26:41going to be things like time caps and pauses making sure that there's a two-hour daily combined limit across facebook and instagram and also that there's mandatory pauses after 15 minutes 60 minutes 90 minutes of continuous activity for children first of all two hours is already a lot of time I try to limit my time to like 15 minutes a day and even then I feel like man I feel kind of addicted to this but two hours you know at least it's some sort of cap it's better than nothing they're going to have school and nightblock caps so they're going to be restricted access on these apps for children between midnight and 6am and there'll be no push notifications allowed during school hours so 8am to 3pm and then also these ameta is going to be forced to instill kind of mental health protections like limiting beauty filters or visible like counts they're going to have to put in stronger age verifications stricter content controls about bullying eating disorders and self-harm and so these are all really critical protections for children that should have

27:44already been in place but this lawsuit in this settlement is going to force me to put these in place for our children when it comes to apps like facebook and instagram etc and so these measures honestly are very similar to things that we have been fighting for at the Nebraska Catholic conference when we advocated the state legislature we've had multiple legislative bills where we've been providing for protections for kids for parents for families to ensure that technology is safeguarding the human person so we're we're very excited to see these of course you know we want to continue to put more of these types of protections in place and also if you're kind of out there you know as you're a parent and you're trying to maneuver all this or you're a grandparent and you can see that your children might be struggling you know to parent their own children on this the attorney general also launched a resource called parenting in a digital age and it's a it's a very comprehensive guide but but really short easy to read for parents and it covers topics like screen time social media use grooming cyber bullying and it provides all

28:50sorts of practical tips for how to deal with things like hidden apps or hidden photos it might be on your child's phone so if you want access to that resource from the attorney general parenting in a digital age just go to attorney general my children's website it's ago.mabrasca.gov and you'll find that parenting in a digital age resource and that's going to be really critical so that's the other component you know obviously this settlement with meta is huge but also we all have our own responsibility day in and day out to be you know caring and watching over our own children or children you know within our larger family context so yeah and this is what these panels are all about it's a very cool event bishop and brews Omaha Wednesday September 16th at the German American Society in Lincoln on Thursday September 17th at the post in the telegraph district this isn't a panel to you know to try and sell you on AI this is to explain Pope Leo's encyclical

29:55and AI and what we as Catholics need to know about it to protect ourselves our families and section I'm so glad you're putting this event together you can find more details at any Catholic dot org on the September 16th and 17th events and then there's going to be one coming to grand island very soon as well real quick time as we only have about a minute or two left we also have an election coming up in just a couple of months already we're almost a total of two months out from another election so what so what advice or what do you have to add to that yeah I feel like we've been talking about the election the last few segments here on spirit Catholic radio and it almost feel like ground talk day again you know let's keep talking about it but if you're a Catholic registered a vote registered a vote registered a vote go to the Nebraska Secretary of State's website if you haven't registered a vote yet tell your friends to register your family to register etc brush up your not on your knowledge of the faith check out the usccd that's a usbishops conference they have a document called forming consciences for faithful citizenship that will help you understand

30:58that your faith and as applied to the election season get to know the candidates especially in your local races get to know the ballot issues pray about all of that and then evangelize a vote get out there and tell people it's good to vote it's good to be engaged in the political process of the electoral process yeah sometimes it's ugly yeah sometimes it you don't like to be in politics but god wants us to be involved in politics he wants us to build up the common good and be witnesses to the gospel of Jesus Christ so that's what you got to do with the election right around the corner here and and basically two months away and voting is going to start basically in one month with early voting so the election is literally you're going to wake up and it's going to be here yeah and this isn't something you're crammed for you don't sit in the parking lot outside the polling place going through the information there really and I say that because I'm guilty of doing that in the past where I was like oh wait I should probably do a little research yeah this isn't school anymore yeah I caught myself doing it in the voting booth before pulling out my phone

32:04trying to know what this issue is about but this is where these are resources that you have at ne catholic dot org as well isn't that right Tom yep yep you can find all sorts of resources on what it means to be a faithful citizen in the age and the time we're living in so yeah ne catholic dot org is where you can find us at the Nebraska Catholic conference or follow us on Instagram or follow us on Facebook and we're we're constantly putting out content to help you know how you can live your faith in the political life of our of our society yeah and you you cannot depend on political ads for facts or information you really have to do research you have to watch debates when they're available you know do the research and e catholic dot org is a great place to start not just to get ready for the upcoming general election but to get the information on bishop and brews as they discuss poplios and cyclical on AI over some brews Omaha Wednesday September 16th German American society Lincoln Thursday September 17th the post in the telegraph district and again

33:05those details and more and e catholic dot org Tom vennzer from the Nebraska Catholic conference thank you so much for all you do for spirit catholic radio and we look forward to talking with one either you or somebody from the and cc soon yeah we'll see him two weeks it's always great to be with the all god bless everybody god bless you Tom next we're going to learn about a chance encounter with a borrowed tent mallet that transformed a week of isolation into a ride of a lifetime that's our good news update next join spirit Catholic radio for a special broadcast of the massive thanks giving for father Edward J. Flanagan founder of boys town on sundays of timbre 13th at 8 30 p.m. central archbishop michael mcgurne of the archdiocese of Omaha will celebrate the mass from the doug chapel tune in as we give thanks for the life and legacy of father flanagan for more details visit spirit catholic radio dot com hi this is tasha from sacred heart in west moine iowa you're

34:06listening to the spirit catholic radio network encounter jesus be sure to invite your friends and family to encounter jesus tell them to listen to the spirit catholic radio network thanks for listening to spirit catholic radio this is father mj pack of e wdn open line and you are listening to the spirit catholic radio network on our special e gents to the flag of the united states of america and to the republic for which it spans one nation under god indivisible liberty and justice for all we are the cord family from saint peter's parisheno maha and you're listening to spirit catholic radio the eucharist is the beating heart of our faith and you've got questions why is adoration important adoration is important because it allows us to spend time in the true

35:11presence of jesus christ when we adore the eucharist we are adoring jesus himself who is truly present under the appearance of bread it's a powerful way to deepen our relationship with him offer him praise and bring our prayers and intentions before him it helps us grow in faith and love for god we hope this answer ignited your understanding of the divine mystery of the eucharist the true body and blood of our lord a gift beyond measure it's now time for the spirit mornings good news update on spirit catholic radio sponsored by weepfield's bakery express located at one hundred eighty night the maple and omaha it's a drive-through option for busy people on the go so we're going to jump across the pond to england where a 24-year-old man with autism went to his very first ever music festival alone now instead of spending the weekend by himself a group of strangers took him under their wing welcomed him into their group and gave him a

36:16weekend he'll never forget and a life-changing act of kindness so adam james is an aspiring DJ he's autistic and he has ADHD and he had worked hard and saved all year to attend this annual music festival called boomtown fair in hapshire england but his family they were concerned that the five-day festival might be a little overwhelming and adam said he always put it off because he never had anybody to go with his dad and he he was concerned that even he decided he was going to plan to drive to hampshire and bring adam home if he needed to leave but instead of needing a rescue adam found something at that music festival that he never expected he found his people you see when adam arrived at the festival he began setting up his tent near a group of guys one of them asked if they could borrow his mallet for you know the tent mallet was a simple interaction but then it quickly turned into something much more meaningful

37:17the guys noticed adam was there by himself and they invited him to camp with them for the week they didn't know him they didn't have to invite him they could have simply gone on with their own festival plans but instead they took him under their wing and for adam their kindness met everything and at one point he sent his data message that and he says he'll never forget I think I found my people adam even had broken his usual rule and told the group about his autism something he normally doesn't do but for some reason around these guys he felt comfortable enough to be himself and one of the guys in the group recalled yeah he just opened up to me in the tent said I've got high levels of autism just to let you know and I told him hey we're all different our own way none of us would even think about judging you for that how beautiful he wasn't standing alone at this massive festival anymore he had a group of friends to spend the week with people who welcomed him into their group and made sure he felt included and when

38:19the festival came to an end adam was in tears as he said goodbye and his dad later took to Facebook to think those guys from Bristol who had befriended his son but see what these strangers gave adam was far more valuable than a place to camp they gave him friendship confidence and a feeling that he belonged oh wait but there's more to this story adam is a lifelong music fan he's an aspiring drum and bass DJ who performs under the name adzo after his story went viral he started receiving invitations from DJs and clubs to perform he was booked for several gigs and he even invited to join a DJing course then boomtown fair that music festival he was a part of they got involved the festival's co-founder Luke Mitchell said the story it spread through the boomtown office with absolute joy so now adam has been invited to perform a DJ set at boomtown in 2027 but that's

39:21not what makes this story special as awesome as that is it all started because a group of strangers saw somebody on his own and decided to make room for him and they had no idea there's no way they could have known that their kindness would reach millions of people they certainly didn't know it might eventually lead to Adam performing on the festival stage they simply saw someone who could use some friends and they chose to be those friends and for Adam well their decision changed his life with your good news update i'm Damien Montez on spirit mornings what an inspiring story it reminds me of our church anywhere you go and you find a Catholic mass you can find a group of people who will come in and welcome you with open arms yeah and I know our society hasn't perpetuated the Catholic church like that you know that we're judgmental we're stuck up but really when you go into the church you come to find that's not what people are like and really across the world no matter where you go oftentimes there's something in common you have

40:25with almost anybody and if you find that thing you can be welcoming with open arms and just like Adam here you feel that love that peace that joined that's what we're called to do as Christians as Catholics to spread that love that's exactly what Jesus was was really ultimately trying to get to is to spread that love around the world and you know you can certainly see in these guys that befriend it Adam just over a attempt at all right but how beautiful that story is it's a reminder of Christ's love in our world and those guys might be at that music festival next year and their buddy adzo Adam is gonna be up on stage DJ during that festival you know those guys are gonna be screaming louder for him than anybody in that crowd oh they're gonna be going crazy we partied with that guy last year just I love that story it's a beautiful story it's all about being all inclusive and welcoming people with open arms and like you said job that's what the Catholic church does every day that's what the word Catholic means universal it's universal absolutely spirit

41:26mornings weather brought to you by Sentinel egg the weather across Nebraska today very similar it's gonna be sunny and hot with highs in the mid 90s it's 741 now you're up to date thanks to spirit mornings on the spirit Catholic radio network Saints Peter and Paul the Saints Peter and Paul and Abby is having a duck and ham dinner and yeah we've got to change on the details on that because we had mentioned accidentally that it was happening this weekend and no no you've got plenty of time it's happening October 4th Saints Peter and Paul Abby duck and ham dinner October 4th from 11 to 2 p.m. and we're talking you know obviously the duck and the ham the sauerkraut dumplings corn taters gravy salads pies you name it there's gonna be a silent auction country store all sorts of stuff going on drive through carry out available dine in with limited seating Saints Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Abby Nebraska October 4th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the Saints Peter and Paul duck and ham dinner in Abby Nebraska we're gonna learn more about our

42:28saint of the day Saint Gregory the great and then we're gonna learn about a book that I know Jeb is gonna be excited to hear about it has been reading it has something to do with the Lord of the Rings that's coming up next this is Franciscan medias saint of the day for September 3rd today we celebrate Pope St Gregory the great there were plenty of early signs that Gregory was destined for greatness as the son of a Roman senator Gregory served the state of Rome as a young man before deciding to give away much of his property to the poor he became a Benedictine monk and a priest founded a number of monasteries and served as papal ninceo to Constantinople at age 50 he was elected Pope serving from 590 until his death in 604 as Pope Gregory was direct and firm he removed unworthy priests from office ran some prisoners and cared for persecuted Jews and the victims of plague and famine he is known for his reform of the liturgy and for strengthening respect for doctrine whether or not he was largely responsible for the revision of Gregorian

43:33chant is disputed Gregory lived in a time of perpetual strife with invading lombards and difficult relations with the east his book pastoral care which reflected on the duties and qualities of a bishop was read for centuries after his death along with Ambrose Jerome and Augustine Gregory is considered one of the great fathers of the western church there's more about the saints along with inspiration and Catholic resources at our website saintoftheday.org from Franciscan media this has been saint of the day Saint Gregory the great pray for us spirit morning spotlight community this morning we're shining the spotlight on battle Creek Nebraska and battle Creek Nebraska the weather much like it's going to be throughout Nebraska today sunny with highs in the mid 90s in our spirit morning spotlight community good morning to our friends and listeners in battle Creek Nebraska and where they listen and jab 88.3 KOLB Northork Nebraska the land of the northeast in the great

44:36save Nebraska you got to travel up there and go experience the Northork community it's great loving Catholic community as well very good yeah battle Creek Nebraska also listens on you can listen on the free app or at spirit catholic radio dot com listen anywhere you go you can take us with you anywhere you go on that free app or at spirit catholic radio dot com hey guy chapter one on the good book club coming up right around eight ten with Deacon Fred a boot but right now jab is just so antsy let's talk about Lord of the Rings with an author wrote a book about the book or the J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings books right now this is spirit mornings on the spirit catholic radio network Caitlin Fassista author of into the heart of middle earth exploring faith and fellowship in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings Caitlin as I told you off air I said you know as much as I like the Lord of the Rings movies I don't like them nearly as much as jab does so I have a feeling

45:37and it won't hurt my feelings if it's just you two talking because I don't want to cut in on jab wanting to learn about this book but Caitlin thank you so much for joining us this morning thank you so much for having me I'm so excited I always love to talk about the Lord of the Rings Caitlin very excited myself now I'm just gonna let you both know we only have 15 minutes all right I gotta put a time when I'm both of you we'll try to keep it short but Caitlin really fast say you know I grew up as a kid even before I was able to read the Lord of the Rings my father read the Hobbit to me and then you know once I got into it myself I was able to read the Hobbit and then the Lord of the Rings books and then of course the movies and everything else that comes with it but then your book came along into the heart of middle earth exploring faith and fellowship and what's really cool is the story of the Hobbit and where J.R.R. Tolkien talks about how he himself views himself as a Hobbit so what does it actually mean to be a Hobbit at heart Caitlin? That's such a good question because I feel like so many times people think being

46:41a Hobbit at heart is kind of this outward aesthetic maybe you have to have chickens maybe you have to bake sourdough bread and and that's maybe not kind of the way of life for everyone I know it isn't for me but for me being a Hobbit at heart is really about your interior life it's slowing down it's appreciating the beauty around you it's seeking out truth and it's a lot of humility and trust and providence which I think Tolkien really emphasizes through his stories of the Hobbits and what's really beautiful about the Lord of the Rings when you get into those books or even the movies themselves middle earth is a whole another world really it can take you out of the world that we currently live in and it becomes a sound community really and it shapes your life so how has middle earth shaped your life Caitlin you know the way you build community and raise your kids etc. Yeah it's really changed I feel like it's almost impossible to look at my life and kind of take out the influence of middle earth because I kind of came into Tolkien's world

47:47when I was 10 or 11 kind of it's similar story with a lot of people that we grow up with Tolkien and so as I've been growing up you know in college and as I'm raising my kids Tolkien has kind of been like a almost like a guide for me in the way that his world is so rich and so beautiful and so full of virtue and heroism and there are so many lessons that we can learn from middle earth so like I've learned patience I've learned to emphasize mercy through Tolkien and a lot of it is kind of it's almost like Tolkien's works can kind of emphasize a lot of things that we probably all learned as as we're growing up like being kind to one another taking care of those around us making sacrifices for those we love but Tolkien's stories can kind of put it into you can take these abstract concepts and show us through storytelling how we can live in in this great way you know it's funny my earliest recollection of anything to do with Lord

48:49of the Rings is when I was just a little guy and this was late 70s my parents had a 1978 Ford Maverick and on the back on the back bumper my mom had a sticker that said Bilbo Baggins for President and obviously as a kid I'm just like okay I you know I don't know what any of that means as I got older then and I started like there was an animated the Hobbit that came out I remember watching that and then I heard about Bilbo Baggins some like wow my mom wanted to vote for a cartoon for president I was confused by the whole thing and then my aunt and uncle my mom's brother and sister had Lord of the Rings posters was a middle earth posters that were like really psychedelic looking from like the 60s or 70s and so my family has been all about Lord of the Rings as long as I can remember but I guess a lot of people don't realize the Christian and Catholic themes behind J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings can you expand on that yeah so Tolkien says in in one of his letters

49:54that the Lord of the Rings is a fundamentally religious and Catholic work but at the same time he says in a different letter that he dislikes allegory so we can kind of as we're studying Tolkien we come to this conclusion and it's a balance that the Lord of the Rings is not a Christian allegory in the sense that like one character equal to Jesus it's not a simple story like that so it's not like CS Lewis Chronicles of Narnie or anything like that yeah that's what a lot of people compare it to like as and I'm not as big on Lewis so I'm not a Lewis scholar yeah but a lot of people say you know as when equal to Jesus in a sense and with Tolkien there isn't anything quite as cut and dry or black and white as that but instead Tolkien takes his own Catholic philosophy that he's been steeped in since he was a child and he uses that to kind of weave the foundations of his whole world and so as a result the story is really really rich and there are so many examples of the way that his faith kind of serves as a foundation and then you do have things

51:00like Lendus kind of reminds us of the Eucharist you have the importance of light that kind of reminds us of our faith and so there are so many different layers to it and I think especially it shows through when you're looking at his heroes and their virtues. We're speaking with Caitlin Fassista her book into the heart of Middle-earth exploring faith and fellowship and J. R. R. Tolkien's the Lord of the Rings what are the most prominent characters in the Lord of the Rings of course is Frodo. Now Frodo's journey is ultimately a journey of sacrifice and suffering and a lot of times we can relate that to Jesus but like you said Caitlin you could think of many other characters that have that relationship such as Erigorn and others but what can his story Frodo's teach us about carrying across especially when we're asked to do something difficult that maybe we don't always feel capable of. Well one thing that I recently discovered in the past few years is that Tolkien actually had a pretty strong devotion to St. Bernardette and he wrote in one of his letters

52:03that he kind of he kind of compares and he draws this parallel between Frodo and St. Bernardette in the sense that she actually never went to the healing waters to herself be healed so she makes this sacrifice and in Tolkien's stories Frodo does something similar he is willing to give up everything in order to save the home that he loves and at the end of the story he is so changed and so wounded by the sacrifices that he's made that he actually isn't able to return to to his home so he saves the shire but he isn't able to enjoy that and it's it's really tragic but at the same time I think it can be very inspiring to each of us that sometimes in life you have to be willing to give up certain things in order to save them or preserve them for others and like as apparent that might might look like something as simple as me staying up late getting the house ready so that my kids can rest and be ready for school the next day or it might be something like

53:04in parish life you're volunteering for a ministry so that others can enjoy that ministry and so there are so many big ways there are small ways that we can kind of take Frodo's example to heart in our own lives and how do you the parallels in the Lord of the Rings trilogy with the Elven way bread and some of the dates that things happen how it ties in with Catholic tradition in the Catholic tradition in the Catholic church talk about those parallels yeah so I think the most the clearest cut examples when you're talking about dates is that when Frodo comes to Rivendell so after he's left the shire he comes to Rivendell the home of the elves and this is where they decide that yes the ring needs to be destroyed and so the fellowship is going to set forth and journey towards Mordor and the day that they leave is actually written according to Tolkien it's December 25 so if you want to look at that from a Christian parallel Christ is coming into the world and

54:10kind of beginning his mission on Christmas day and so for Frodo he's doing something similar he's he's stepping out into the world in order to make this journey of sacrifice and then at the end of his journey the ring is actually destroyed on March 25th which has a lot of significance for Christians that's most notably the annunciation and so we see this great kind of parallel of evil being defeated on these very significant days and then when we look at Lembus of course in the Lord of the Rings Lembus isn't isn't going to equal the Eucharist they don't have any kind of transubstantiation like that in in the Lord of the Rings but they have this bread and it's this it's like it has these other world-y properties it has this healing virtues and it's given by Galadriel who's meant to represent this high beauty and this grace and so you have this bread that's equipping the members of the fellowship on their journey and the elves actually call it way bread

55:15and so in that sense you can kind of think of the way that we call if you're receiving Eucharist before death or before a dangerous journey we call it a viaticum and so there are so many parallels there it's an unpack that I find so fun and one small bite is enough to fill a grown man's stomach like they like to say tokens characters Caitlin they repeatedly have to resist the temptation of the ring you know it has this power for its own purposes but the ring is the ultimate example of that what does that tell us about human nature and the temptation that we all have to deal with and can we overcome that temptation yeah I think that's one of the great stories from the Lord of the Rings especially when you look at the character like Galadriel or Boramir so many characters are tempted by the ring I mean that's that's what the ring does it tempts you and you see the way that these heroes respond to temptation or maybe like Boramir fall short and I think what it comes down to is the difference between them is preparation and formation

56:20so when Frodo offers Galadriel the ring she says she says something and I don't remember the quote exactly but she says basically I've been thinking for a long time how I might respond if I'm offered the ring and so she's prepared herself she's she's kind of looked and examined her own conscience and she's she strengthens her resolve over the years and so that when that temptation does come to her she's able to wholeheartedly refuse it whereas with other characters they've kind of been toying with the idea over the years like Boramir he's like what would I do if I had the ring maybe I could do something great with it and so you see the difference in formation and kind of their interior lives there and Galadriel's interior life is super strengthened against these temptations so each of us can kind of take that as a lesson to kind of examine our own conscience is regularly and and kind of work through small temptations so that is something really really big obviously we will ever have to be tempted by the one ring itself but when these big temptations come

57:25our way we're able to know ourselves know our purpose and and be able to like firmly say absolutely not so with this there is a complaint that that is since the beginning of these trilogy the trilogy when this came out there's this complaint that the central inclusion of these stories has to do with magic and sorcery and wizards so what is your what are your thoughts on that complaint and how do you handle that if somebody asks questions or asks you about that yeah that's a great question I know growing up as a kid there was a lot of like we don't like like parents I maybe it was more of a trend in the 90s that parents were really not wanting their kids to read anything with wizards but then somehow Lord of the Rings usually gets a path and I think that's because a lot of people know that he was told that he was Catholic and he was so rooted in his Catholic faith but when we're looking at the magic of like the elves or magic of Gandalf he's called a wizard which in our

58:27own perspective might sound like oh he's you know he's up to no good kind of but in Tolkien's world the magic of the elves and the magic of Gandalf is almost like an extension of their natural being so it's very different from the magic of Sauron. Tolkien uses the word magic but it's really two different things the magic of of Sauron and the magic of the enemy is like more like machine where you're you're manipulating nature you're dominating nature and then for the elves they're really he called it art it's almost like an extension of their being it's their goodness perfected and so I think if you want to get really into it yes the story does have magic but it's like so do all good fairy tales and if we want our kids to grow up with a sense of wonder and imagination I think fairy tales can be so good for them because it teaches them things it teaches them lessons and it allows them to examine themselves in this kind of fantastical mirror where everything is

59:33heightened which I think can make things a lot easier to understand as you're growing up so I know a lot of people might be wary like oh there's there's wizards or magic in this story but I think when you get into the heart of it it's so just bursting with goodness. Well or the the simple argument could be you know what I see what you're saying how about you read this book it's called Into the Heart of Middle Earth exploring faith and fellowship in J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings from author Caitlin Fesista this this book might be helpful in kind of explaining the argument against the sorcery magic part of this and looking at the Catholic tie-in of of everything that goes with this trilogy. Well I won't say no to that. I think I could sit and talk to you all day about the Lord of the Rings unfortunately we're running short on time but I have one more question for you I'll oftentimes when you read the Lord of the Rings you can find a character that really sticks out to you and you relate to personally what is your favorite character that you see most in

1:00:33yourself in the Lord of the Rings. Ooh I would this is a great question because I feel like it changes you know depending on the season of life I would say for me right now I feel like I feel like I guess in my life I'm Sam Gamgee because he served this very supportive role where he's almost carrying everyone else along their journey and I think as a mom that's kind of my role with my kids is to support them with whatever burdens they're carrying and I can't carry it for them they need to learn how to become themselves and so my role is to just help them along the way and as well as I can. How are you and your kids going to be celebrating isn't it coming up this month have it day? Yeah it's on September 22nd so that's the birthday of Frodo and Bilbo we have a big party every year at our house we usually make I definitely always make lettuce and we usually make poverty kinds of foods and then we play different games we we have a game called She-Lib's Web where

1:01:38I create a basically a giant spider web out of a crepe paper and then I give the kids foam swords so they can splash through it and then we have a pinata that's shaped like a dragon so we do a lot to fun games and I'm super excited for this year. Well I'll tell you what off-air I'll let you and Jeb you can give him your address so he can come to your Hobbit party on September 22nd but in the meantime this would be a great book for anybody to have that's not just a fan of the Lord of the Rings but to see all these beautiful parallels with the Catholic faith and with Christian life into the heart of Middle-Earth our author Caitlin Feseester our guest this morning Caitlin thank you so much for for telling us about this book you can buy it anywhere Catholic books are sold or asked for it by name you can find it online of course again it's called Into the Heart of Middle-Earth Caitlin Feseester thank you so much. Thank you for having me this is such a joy. God bless you Caitlin and yeah if you want to learn more about that book you can find it where books are sold

1:02:40great Catholic bookstore into the heart of Middle-Earth exploring faith and fellowship with Caitlin Feseester wonderful interview. Jeb what are you gonna do September 22nd is that a work day is that a weekday yeah are you gonna come dressed as well September 22nd that is a Tuesday because I'm running my marathon on September 29th so I'll probably be trying to rest but I'll be at work too. You can rest you could put like little the ears or you know if you find the ears online you can wear the ears. You know I for one year of Halloween I went as Frodo and I remember you know Lord the Rings the movies were coming out and we found this costume my father of course purchased it for me as a kid I didn't have an income but we went to one of the stores and we found this Hobbit outfit and if you're familiar with the store you know that Frodo's sword is named sting in the cool aspect of sting is when Org Jr. when evil is near it glows blue and so it's kind of a warning if we're telling to the temptation that might be coming or the danger that lurks behind

1:03:42the shadows and so that the plastic sword I had you had a little switch on it and then anytime I'd walk across you know one of the evil creatures that you encounter during Halloween you know the other kids that are dressed up as something evil I turn on that blue sting and you know they knew to stay away so it was off the evil. And this was just last year that's amazing thank you again again the name of the book into the heart of middle earth exploring faith and fellowship and J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings spirit mornings on the spirit Catholic radio network a prayer in honor of St. Gregory the Great next. A fast paced calling show with a new host every day listen to open line live weekdays at 2 p.m. Central on the spirit Catholic radio network. Hello I'm Jeff Kavins in cooperation with Ascension Press I want to personally invite you and your Bible study group to join us for the great adventure your journey through the Bible

1:04:44you'll have the opportunity to listen to three Bible studies a week heard only on spirit Catholic radio complete one study and journey on to the next until you've completed all 16 programs find a schedule and study materials at spirit Catholic radio dot com slash adventure. Hi this is John Ishai from Sacred Heart Parish in West Des Moines Iowa you're listening to the spirit Catholic radio network encounter Jesus be sure to invite your friends and family to encounter Jesus tell them to listen to the spirit Catholic radio network KVSS Propheon Omaha K257 of K Columbus KMA Wilde York D.P.K.A.L.P. Beatrice K20 AGM falsity D.A.T.D. Bulls that's left there in K217 GM chairman D.L.P.HLD Blinds KJLDCD D.A.N.K.P.L.D Imperial KW O'Gallop spirit Catholic radio Lord God of Peace here our prayer we have tried so many times and over so many years to resolve our conflicts by our own powers and by the force of our arms how many moments of hostility and darkness have we

1:05:47experienced how much blood has been shed how many lives have been shattered how many hopes have been buried but our efforts have been in vain now Lord come to our aid grant us peace teach us peace guide our steps in the way of peace open our eyes and our hearts and give us the courage to say never again war with war everything is lost in still in our hearts the courage to take concrete steps to achieve peace Lord God of Abraham God of the prophets God of love you created us and you called us to live as brothers and sisters give us the strength daily to be instruments of peace enable us to see everyone who crosses our path as brother or sister make a sensitive to the plea of our citizens who entreat us to turn our weapons of war into implements of peace our trepidation into confident trust and our quarreling into forgiveness keep alive within us the flame of

1:06:47hope so that with patience and perseverance we may opt for dialogue and reconciliation in this way may peace triumph at last and may the words division hatred and war be banished from the heart of every man and woman Lord diffuse the violence of our tongues and our hands renew our hearts and minds so that the word which always brings us together will be brother and our way of life will always be that of Shalom peace salam amen this is spirit mornings with chen brown and Damien Montez on the spirit Catholic radio network always so grateful to you for not just inviting us to be a part of your week day morning routine but for supporting spirit Catholic radio at spirit mornings Damien Montez Jeb Ishite filling in for gen brown she's on her way to Pennsylvania and and you of course those are the wonderful people that make spirit mornings roll grow and of course our CEO Jesus Christ it's

1:07:48Thursday September 3rd 2026 in the year of our Lord and today we say a prayer and honor of St Gregory the Great Jeb if you would do the honors and pray along with us right now absolutely the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen eternal and almighty God you will that St Gregory the Great should govern all your people serving them by word and example guard by his prayers the shepherds of your church and the sheep entrusted to them guiding them in a way of salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ your son in the unity of the Holy Spirit amen St Gregory the Great Pray for us in the name of the Father's the Son and the Holy Spirit amen and because tomorrow we are having a spirit mornings on core let's go ahead and add in the prayer St Rose of Vertebo she is the patron saint of florists and flower growers of gen brown as you can

1:08:49imagine this is one of her favorite saints because of Jen's love for gardening so pray along with us right now in the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit amen oh God who gladness each year with the feast day of blessed Rose grant we pray that we who are called to honor her and also follow her example of holy living through our Lord Jesus Christ who is Son who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit God forever and ever amen and the name of the Father the Son and the Holy Spirit amen I love how today St St Gregory the Great is the patron saint of teachers musicians epilepsy and England and our good news update takes us to England that's coming up right around 840 beautiful story of inclusion again that's right around 840 spirit mornings weather brought to you by Sentinel egg and the forecast across Nebraska pretty simple sunny with highs in the mid 90s it's 809 now you're up to date thanks to spirit mornings on the spirit Catholic radio network and just a reminder again the saints Peter and

1:09:52Paul duck and ham dinner in Abbey Nebraska happening October 4th easy to remember because you could tell people about it happens on 10 for good buddy October 4th from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. the saints Peter and Paul duck and ham dinner it seems Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Abbey Nebraska you got your armor or army green on to go alongside with it at 10 for good and I got a little shout out here actually I know my aunt Tammy is listening and her husband Rob and my cousin Hunter you know they're two with the men that I go hunting with most frequently and I remember one cousin's name is hunter yes the son of Rob yeah that's awesome and we're really good buddies all three of us and of course by dad joins alongside with us as well but we will and duck hunting with them one time and they have what you know if you're familiar with duck hunting you use duck geekoy's they're fake plastic ducks yeah set out in the fields and bring duck dynasty you know it ducks are duck like geekoy's are well he goes we have to you know get out there early because we have to unload

1:10:54the duck decoys and I'm thinking okay you know five ten fifteen minutes tops yeah get to the back in both hunter and Rob unload their trucks and they're both the back of the pick up beds are filled with duck decoys I mean they have like a hundred of them wow we're out there sitting up we're setting up for like an hour before we even actually start the hunt in the dark by the way we have like headlamps and stuff we're setting up all these ducks I couldn't believe it so we had a whole army of ducks I'm like we have more duck decoys than we're gonna see ducks in the field today but well shout out to Tammy and Rob for that I appreciate you guys Harlan Iowa that's where they're at oh Harlan yeah that's about the furthest extent you can actually reach spirit Catholic radio when you go out east and Iowa I got family in Harlan too Slaven's and linens out there how beautiful yeah see I'm or foot only used one duck decoy and that didn't work for him at all daffy just gave him a hard time we've got Deek I just saw Deacon Fred of Boodwalk in the Good Book Club today we're going to be starting chapter one of Hagye so I'll let you get your Bible ready for that

1:11:55and we'll listen to Father Mark McCurture's morning prayer you're reading from the book of wisdom simply I learned about wisdom and ungrudgingly do I share her riches I do not hide away for two men she is an unfailing treasure those who gain this treasure win the friendship of God to whom the gifts they have from discipline commend them the word of the Lord thanks be to God good morning God's blessings to you on this feast of Pope St Gregory the Great one of the four great doctors of the Western Church an incredible um teacher of the faith very wise man a great saint I just don't know there's so much it could be said about Gregory that um I could be on here for hours but uh Jan and Damien are waiting for me to get done so they can pick up on the on the rest of the morning programming all I will say is this Gregory was a monk he was the first monk to be elected Pope and he uh rather enjoyed his life as a monk and he did not want to um he

1:13:02didn't want to sacrifice it and yet he was elected unanimously as Pope in the year 590 and he served till I want to say 604 something like that don't quote me on that he gave up his preferred lifestyle to take on the greatest burden in the church that of being the Pope and because he did that you and I benefit from his teachings to this day you know every once in a while every once in a while God's going to ask you to sacrifice something that you really like that you're comfortable with don't be afraid to do so following the example of Gregory the great following the example of blessed virgin Mary trust that what he's got in mind is even better than your plans thank you God bless God bless you Father Mark the Churches for providing morning prayer this week here on

1:14:04spirit mornings the spirit morning spotlight community this morning is battle Creek Nebraska and the weather and battle Creek mostly sunny with highs in the mid 90s they're listening on 88.3 KOLB so good morning to battle Creek Nebraska open up those Bibles we're going to be listening to hey guy chapter one uh on the good book club and Deacon Freda boot is going to help us out with that next so let's listen it's now time for the spirit mornings good book club on spirit Catholic radio as we open the Bible let God's word provide peace in the second year of King Darius in the sixth month on the first day of the month the word of the Lord came by haggai the prophet to Zerobbable the son of Shialtiel governor of Judah and to Joshua the son of Jehazadak the High Priest thus speaks the Lord of hosts saying this people says the time

1:15:08has not come the time that the Lord's house should be built is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses and this temple to lie in ruins now therefore thus says the Lord of hosts consider your ways you have so much and bring in little you eat but do not have enough you drink but you are not filled with drink you clothe yourselves but no one is warm and he who earns wages earns wages to put into a bag with holes thus says the Lord of hosts consider your ways go up to the mountains and bring wood and build the temple that I may take pleasure in it and be glorified says the Lord you looked for much

1:16:12but indeed it came to little and when you brought it home I blew it away why says the Lord of hosts because of my house that is in ruins while every one of you runs to his own house therefore the heavens above you withhold the dew and the earth withholds its fruit for I called for a drought on the land and the mountains on the grain and the new wine and the oil on whatever the ground brings forth on men and livestock and on all the labor of your hands then Zerubbable the Son of Shialtyel and Joshua the Son of Jehazadak the High Priest with all the remnant of the people obeyed the voice of the Lord their God and the words of Haggai the prophet as the Lord their God had sent him and the people feared the presence of the Lord

1:17:14then Haggai the Lord's messenger spoke the Lord's message to the people I am with you says the Lord so the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbable the Son of Shialtyel Governor of Judah and the spirit of Joshua the Son of Jehazadak the High Priest and the spirit of all the remnant of the people and they came and worked on the house of the Lord of hosts their God on the 24th day of the six month in the second year of King Darius from the word of promise audio Bible this is the spirit morning's good book club all right Haggai chapter one or Haggai chapter one on the good book club here to help us out this morning from St. Gerald's in Ralston that's a Jeb's home parish we've got Deacon Frediboot here to help us out and Deacon the challenge is all the names you might have to pronounce during this deep dive into Haggai chapter one but hopefully we don't have to yeah

1:18:18don't have to hit those two heavy we're not gonna judge you by any means that's a I just agree with some of those pronunciations we're not gonna judge you there but so to kick off this discussion on Haggai chapter one set the stage for us regarding the historical context of the Israeli remnant returning from Babylon yeah so this is where we are so basically the Israelites have now returned to the Holy Land so the Babylonians are out they've been taken over the Persians now control the world basically and they have let the people return so they've let the Jewish people go and they have now returned to the Land of Jerusalem and they've been there for a little while now and so they've been there about 20 years at the time that Haggar starts to make these these prophecies hey guys sorry hey guy makes these prophecies hey guys really interesting figure we don't know much about him and it's a very this is a very short but very powerful part of scripture very short only two two chapters 38 verses so not much to say but what he does have to say is very powerful

1:19:23and so and so the what the context and kind of what's going on here is the people have been back for a little while now and when they got back to the Holy Land the temple is was destroyed of course and so now so they started rebuilding the temple but after a while the work on that kind of ceased you actually get a much better picture of this in the what's going on historically in the book of Ezra the first six chapters of Ezra talk a little bit more detail about what's going on here here we just have hey guys prophecies but basically they started to rebuild the temple within they stopped and then they kind of focused on other things and as you kind of get kind of a lutee from the context they started to focus on their own dwellings and building their own homes and they stopped working on the temple and so now this is at the point where hey guy is like you know and he gets this vision from the Lord that you they're not they're not rebuilding the temple and they need to now start and that's what that's what this first prophecy of hey guy is really focused on is the rebuilding of the temple verse two is very significant because it talks about it says what

1:20:24the people have said which is the people said now is not the time to rebuild the house of the Lord and so there's a couple important things there first of all it's the people making that decision not God so the people are saying we're going to focus on what we want now and not what it is that the Lord wants I always like how the Lord refers to his people here as this people always does that in the Bible when he's mad at them right is it like you know that's that's son when you're mad at your son you know not my son but that's so he's mad at them and because they're focusing on the things that they want to do not what the what the Lord wants them to do and so and they've said it's not time to rebuild and it's oh it's not because it's not the time to rebuild it's because that's what they've chosen and so that's what they're focusing on and so and so the rest of the prophecy kind of centers on that it's really interesting because the first verse it kind of opens up with consider your ways hey guy challenges us there and oftentimes in our own daily lives how often do we not put the Lord's will but our own will first how do we recognize the

1:21:26difference taking a boot when we're going about our day and sometimes we think we're making a conscious decision that this is what the Lord wants me to do but maybe it's sometimes our own will instead yeah it's good the only real remedy for that is closeness with the Lord so the reason that the people are not doing what the Lord says is they're not in relationship with him they're not they're not praying they're not offering proper sacrifices they're not due they're not they're not close to the Lord and when you're not close to the Lord you can't really listen for and discern his will so the key to whether you're the ancient Jewish people or us today is to always be close to the Lord so and we'll find that when we are close to the Lord we're we're much more feel better about that the things that we're doing are in line with the Lord's will and that doesn't mean that we have to neglect our daily responsibilities or the things like that and the Lord is not telling them to do that either here in this but what he's saying is that there are things that you have to do that you know you have to focus on what I am prioritizing for you too and so so I say the key the key to

1:22:28really discerning that is closeness with the Lord so if you're staying with the Lord in prayer if you're working to develop your spiritual life and your relationship with the Lord you will feel much better about you know kind of discerning what it is that the Lord wants you to do as opposed to if we're separated from him we really can't make that we really can't just determine that hey guy chapter one on the or hey guy chapter one on the good book club with Deacon Freda Boode so as we move on to verse five in chapter one this is God kind of helping us reflect on our priorities a little bit the people in in the story but this also helps us and reminds us that we need to kind of prioritize better and this is what God's trying to help them do in verse five yeah very much so this is kind of your classic catch 22 situation which is where you know they're finding that the people are finding that the land isn't yielding you know they're not getting the food that they need and things like that and so rather than turning to the Lord to to trust in him and to make and to count on the fact that he's going to provide for their needs they're distancing themselves further from him and focusing more on why isn't the land pretty like they're really

1:23:31pouring themselves into these kinds of things and what the Lord says is it is that catch 22 because if they just open themselves up and trusted in the Lord he would provide for them yeah he would make their land fruitful again he would make all these wonderful things happen for them but they're not doing that and so this is so the Lord is kind of sitting there you know and in this reflection kind of saying to them you know reflect on what's going on you know all these bad things are happening to you and it's not because of you know you're not doing your proper efforts it's because you're not you're you're separated from me and you're not doing what it is that I want you to do and so that's why all these kind of bad things are happening to you and again it's not that the Lord does bad things to us or wants bad things to happen to us it's just a natural consequence of when we're separated from the Lord when we don't trust in him when we don't believe he's going to be there for us it's just a natural consequence of things that happen it's a reminder all throughout the Old Testament New Testament alike and even in our modern day that we have these distractions in our lives whether it be things material items relationships with other people you name it

1:24:31there's so many distractions in those things pull us away from the Lord when we find ourselves getting distracted digging a boot how do we return that focus back on him you know it's always we always have the key the way we always have to kind of think of it in our minds is that our lives have to be built around our relationship with the Lord the Lord can't ever we can never approach it as something like the Lord is something that I kind of have to fit into my day or I have to you know find a time for prayer in my day or I have to find a time to you know go to mass or things like that because if it's if we make our faith life just one more thing to fit into our schedule that's it's never going to work out because it's always going to be something that can easily be shoved to the side and so the key is making sure that our lives are kind of centered around the Lord so you know do I begin my day you know in prayer do I when I get up what is the first thing I do when I get up do I reach out to the Lord in prayer or do I quickly kind of push that aside grab my phone and kind of start you know the things of the day and so that's when we'll see our focus so the key first is just to step back and kind of take a time and reflect how much time do I spend with the Lord in the day you know you know what are those things that I do that put

1:25:36me in relationship with the Lord throughout the day and if we look at it and we say like it's not very much or I can't I can't really find things or maybe it's been even several days but when I since I've even prayed that's when we're going to find that that's when we're going to find that again we're focusing too much kind of on the things of the world and it's not that the Lord wants us to neglect those things of the our jobs are important our families are important our activities are important those things that bring us joy all those things are very important and important for our full life but we have to bring the Lord has to come first and so it has to be kind of the anchor of our of our entire lives perfectly said so and then when we move on to hey guy chapter one verses 12 through 14 we're seeing Zeruba Bell Joshua and the Reddent obeying God so God is is basically making that promise of okay see now you put me at the center of your life and this is God kind of telling him hey this is a good thing yeah this is really a Zeruba Bell you said that very well that's the correct pronunciation it's very difficult Zeruba Bell is actually he's actually in the Davidic line so he's in the line of David he's the

1:26:40ruler kind of at this time and so he's the one who's going to have to set the example right and so that's the key is the the person if he sets the example the people are going to follow we look at all the times that the Israelites have sort of gone off course it's usually because they have a leader or a high priest or someone like that who's not showing them the proper way and in fact in the gospels this is what Jesus is accusing the high priest of and the king you know the king king Herod at the time the people of the Jewish people is that they're not they're not setting the the right example so here's Zeruba Bell a Davidic King is actually he actually we actually read his name in the the genealogy that we read you know during the event Zeruba Bell I always say it wrong probably that's one of those ones when it comes up but but he's the one who's going to usher in this new era of obedience to the Lord and it's because his spirit has been stirred up with with what with what hey guy has said and so that's why we always see the role hey guys considered one of the quote unquote minor prophets but it it always is a great reminder that the messages of the prophets are so important because even the quote minor prophets their messages are so important to get the

1:27:44people on to the track that they need to and if it wasn't for the prophecies of hey guy the people might not be might have not have gotten on the right track and started again kind of doing the things that they're supposed to do and one of the things you'll see is when they start to do this they are going to start to now focus on rebuilding the house of the Lord and things are going to get a lot better for them because of that in particular I like in verse 11 they talk about the the crops yeah the crops that are they're they're they're having trouble with grain wine and oil those are essential crops not just for daily life but also for offering sacrifice to the Lord you can't ever offer your sacrifice or perform you know those the rituals that they need to without those and so when you don't have those you can't really not only can you not just live but you also can really live a life a fullness in the life of faith and so that's why these are these are things are going to be essential and the Lord is saying you know again you haven't had these you haven't been producing these properly if you you know now turn to me you're going to start to see these

1:28:48things again and so you're going to be able to live the fullness of life not just of your physical life but of your of your faith life too that's a fascinating insight I kind of glossed over those crops but when you bring it into perspective like that really makes me key in on those when we get towards the end of this passage there there's the gods says I am with you I am with you it's so easy especially when we're struggling maybe even when life's going good it can even be harder to remember that the Lord is with us in those moments how do we again focus in on him and remember that he is with us in moments of triumph and in struggle yeah and that's the important thing is you know throughout the all the Israelites experience all these really difficult times in the Bible and we experience difficult times in our lives today but the idea is that you know when the Lord says I am with you he's not just coming back to his people he's been with them through everything he was with them throughout the Babylonian exile he's with us even in our darkest moments but sometimes it's nice to you know kind of have that reaffirmation from the Lord and again that's

1:29:51where closeness with the Lord becomes important because if you know you think of you know those messages that you get from people in your lives those messages of love and encouragement that you get from people in your lives if you didn't have relationship with them or you weren't close to them you wouldn't get those messages and so it's not that you know they wouldn't be those people are there for you they're not thinking about you they're not supporting you it's just that when you get those messages from them it really means a lot see we we live our lives as humans and as humans we have to hear those things from the Lord sometimes and so it's important to hear those things and it doesn't mean that in the times when the Lord is not saying that or maybe we don't hear the Lord saying then I don't know lives that the Lord is not with us but what is really important is to understand that the Lord is always with us and that there are times when he proclaims it just to remind us you know just so that he brings us right back to where we're supposed to be and it's important to have those reminders it is that's very really beautiful it was kind of an irony with these these last few books we've read on the good book club because and especially this one here where it talks about

1:30:53those who procrastinate you know and it's too easy to go oh yeah I listen to the good book club all the time these are great messages these are great red flags I'll worry about it later I mean we're procrastinating about a story that's telling us not to procrastinate so this is the time to kind of reset and maybe take Labor Day weekend to start off the the following work week even though it'll be a short work week but maybe this is that that that reminder that hey okay what Deacon Fred of Boot said about center everything around God first in your planner in your phone in your in your schedule make sure that God comes first and everything else will fall into place rather than just putting out maybe I'll stop into church today maybe I'll do confession today now this is a main part of what your calendar should look like as opposed to what it looks like right now exactly and there's never a bad time to do this right like sometimes I think people we tend to sometimes be completionists it's always say to ourselves if I can't if I can't dive in

1:31:55like wholeheartedly or you know with everything then I'm not going to do it at all yeah and that's not really the way of the Lord the Lord loves all of our efforts to be with him and so if we are taking small steps if we're taking larger steps whatever whatever we have to give to the Lord is going to be is beneficial and so there's never a bad time if you like you feel like you're away you know from the Lord there's never a bad time to to restart that and kind of re re rekindle that relationship because the Lord has never left you know you might he's been a long time since you spoke to the Lord the Lord has never left you and he's still there with you you know so and he still loves you infinitely even though maybe it's been a long time and so there's never a bad place to plug in again and to rekindle that relationship and the important thing too is even no matter how developed we are in the spiritual life we can never be too developed you know so because we have to think our relationship with the Lord is the relationship of love and you can never love someone enough I mean I was I would say that think of that phrase like we're we would say like to your wife

1:32:56or someone like I love you I think I love you enough now like I'm done with that now and I'm going to move on to something else I love relationship with the Lord is constantly evolving and so no matter where we are in a relationship with the Lord it can always develop and become more fruitful yeah it's so true you know and the Lord is weighing with open arms he's not holding grudges against you if you haven't talked to him in a while he's waiting for you and he wants you so deeply to come back to him so if you're if you're struggling with that and you're worried the the hard conversation you're gonna have it's not gonna be that hard he's gonna love you no matter what it's gonna be wonderful when you feel the relationship of the the Lord's love just kind of pouring down upon you it's there's really nothing like it yeah and I think the takeaway too is is that if you don't have the focus on God and you're focusing on what's going on under your own roof and your own you know issues and things and you're not putting God in the center of all that you know all those things that you acquire and buy and everything it's like it's like putting a handful of quarters into a pocket with holes you know it's it's really just gonna be an empty thing that you're

1:33:57doing unless God is a part of your life as a part of that so back to hey guy says that directly actually he says that of the the bag with holes yeah the leaders with holes yeah the guy says that directly I don't carry a purse so I had to make it make sense to me yeah it's not a person it's a satchel so deacon Fred aboot thank you so much for joining us on the Good Book Club would you please leave us with a diagonal blessing absolutely in the name of the Father and of the Son of the Holy Spirit amen good and gracious God we thank you for all the wonderful gifts in our life we ask you to please send your blessings on upon us and help us to make you the priority in our life help us to always listen and what it is for that you want for our lives and always be open to your will for us in all that we do may the Lord bless us always in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit amen amen deacon Fred aboot from St. Gerald's in rolston thank you so much for joining us for hey guy chapter one and there are only two chapters chapters there's only one more so probably tomorrow you have the other well we have the other one that's all Tuesday actually oh yeah because of the the long weekend and stuff so this gives our

1:35:02listeners plenty of opportunity to to play catch up on the Good Book and go check out the book of Ezra one through six that's another great place to again it's that's just going on the same time period okay so that's a great it gives a little more historical context as to them rebuilding the temple and whatnot so it's a good it's a it's a it's a wonderful reading to hear that Damien we have homework from I saw that you slept it in there so slightly it's like we think you're going to end class the teacher isn't giving you a new assignment you're like yes or about to get out with the homework and then he's like by the way six chapters of Ezra they're pretty good this is the kind of homework that's good for the home so we appreciate had deacon Fred aboot Amen spirit mornings on the spirit catholic radio network today St. Gregory is patron saint of England and we're going to be heading to England in our good news update a beautiful story of inclusion next our in heaven into deathly there will be no freedom of choice did you know that no freedom of choice why not because when you attain God you're perfectly free Emmy award-winning Archbishop Folngay sheen has inspired generations through television

1:36:07radio and on the spirit catholic radio network continue listening to spirit catholic radio for details on where you can hear the live broadcast of Archbishop Folngay sheen's beatification on Thursday September 24 my name is Chris Wheeler and I'm from St. Robert's parish in Omaha, Nebraska you're listening to spirit catholic radio encounter Jesus thank you so much for supporting spirit catholic radio be sure to invite your friends and family to encounter Jesus tell them to listen to the spirit catholic radio network see the program schedule at spirit catholic radio dot com slash programs the euclis is the beating heart of our faith and you've got questions why do catholics consume both christ body and blood catholics consume both christ body and blood because jesus instituted the eucrist with both bread and wine at the last supper he said this is my

1:37:11body and this is my blood on a church teaches that the whole christ body blood soul and divinity is present under either the appearance of bread or wine receiving both forms more fully expresses the sign of the eucrist as a meal and a sacrifice it reminds us of his complete sacrifice on the cross or his blood was poured out for our sins we hope this answer ignited your understanding of the divine history of the eucrist the true body and blood of our lord a gift beyond measure it's now time for the spirit morning's good news update on spirit catholic radios sponsored by we fields bakery express located at one hundred eighty ninth of maple in a maha it's a drive through option for busy people on the go this morning we meet adam james and this is happening in england by the way twenty four year old adam james is an aspiring dj

1:38:14he's autistic and has a dhd he's worked very hard and saved all year to attend this music festival in hampshire england called the boom town fair but his family worried that the five day festival might be a little overwhelming and adam said he always put it off because he didn't have anybody to go with and his dad and he was so concerned that he even had a plan to drive to hampshire and bring adam home if he needed to leave early but instead of needing a rescue adam found something at that music festival he never expected he found his people when adam arrived at the festival he started setting up his tent near a group of guys and one of them asked if they could borrow adam's tent mallet it was a simple interaction and it quickly turned into something a little bit more meaningful because those guys noticed that adam was there by himself so they invited him to camp with them for the week yeah they didn't know him they didn't have to invite him they could have simply just gone on with their own festival plans and minded their own business but instead

1:39:18they took him under their wing and for adam they as you can imagine their kindness meant everything and at one point he sent his dad a message that his dad and he says he'll never forget it said I think I found my people and adam had even broke his usual rule and told the group about his autism something he normally doesn't do but around these guys he felt comfortable enough to be himself and one of the guys in the group said yeah he just opened up to mean the tent and said I've got high levels of autism just to let you know and I told him hey we're all different our own way none of us would even think about judging you for that right there how beautiful how wonderful that must have felt to Adam to have that pressure taken off of him and now he wasn't standing alone at this massive festival he had friends to spend the week with people who welcomed him into their group and made sure that he felt included and of course adam was in tears when the festival came to an end and he had to say goodbye and his dad later took to Facebook to thank those guys

1:40:21from Bristol who would befriend at his son and what these strangers gave Adam was far more valuable than just a place to camp they gave him friendship confidence and a feeling that he belonged but then there was this unexpected bonus Adam is a lifelong music fan he's an aspiring drum and bass DJ who performs under the name adzo a DZO and after this story went viral he started receiving invitations from DJs and clubs to perform he was booked for several gigs and check this how he was even invited to join a DJing course and then the boom town fair got involved that same music festival the festival's co-founder Luke Mitchell said the story had spread throughout the boom town office with absolute joy so now after all this after somebody just saying hey why don't you come hang out with us this all leads to Adam being invited to perform a DJ set at boom town

1:41:22next year in 2027 but see that is awesome is that all is that's not what makes this story special that all started because a group of strangers saw someone on his own and decided to include him to make room for him they had no idea that their kindness would reach millions of people that wasn't the point they did what was right they certainly didn't know it might eventually lead to Adam performing on the festival stage they just saw someone who could just use some friends and they chose to be those friends and for Adam well their decision changed his life and you can bet those are going to be the loudest guys at the festival next year when they see their buddy Adam up there DJing at that festival with your good news update i'm Damien Montez on spirit mornings those guys remind me of Christ you know he he would have been like that right if he was here on the sir today and you were maybe the woman at the well and you're walking up and you're alone

1:42:25he would have befriended you no matter who you were center autistic you name it we all were all broken in our own ways but our lord is is right there with us alongside that that journey that we're all trying to reach which is singhode and he's and he's waiting for you he just wants to reach out his hand and be your friend so reach out yours and be his friend as well and like Deacon Boud said that's when we can remember that the Lord is always with us it's right no matter when you know and that's something to take with us you know this would have been and we've heard this in good news updates in the past where you know a table fuller kids at a cafeteria yeah in a cafeteria see a kid sitting by themselves and they invite them over you know just a simple act of hey why don't you come sit with us and all the sudden this introvert this kid that was quiet and shy and felt awkward now has a chance to come out of his his or her shell pretty pretty beautiful just simple little things like that you don't have to run a whole marathon

1:43:26just take a step forward is better than just standing still and I'm not judging you Jeff you run your marathon sir you're a morning trying to say I'm saying you can run the marathon you do it I'll take a step forward I'll be winded sounds good but you just have some water at the finish line spirit mornings weather brought to you by Sentinel Ag and you have the weather across Nebraska today pretty consistent it's going to be sunny with highs in the mid-90s creeping up on 844 now you're up to date thanks to spirit mornings on the spirit Catholic radio network yesterday we had reported about this ham and duck dinner it is not happening this weekend the Saints Peter and Paul duck and ham dinner in Abbey Nebraska is happening October 4th 10 for good buddy and that includes all the fixings this hourcraft the dumplings the corn and all that again that's October 4th from 11 AM to 2 PM at Saints Peter and Paul in Abbey Nebraska the duck and ham dinner we're going to find out what's new at the Newman Center Omaha next but first let's learn more about our saint of the day

1:44:28Saint Gregory the Great this is Franciscan medias saint of the day for September 3rd today we celebrate Pope Saint Gregory the Great there were plenty of early signs that Gregory was destined for greatness as the son of a Roman senator Gregory served the state of Rome as a young man before deciding to give away much of his property to the poor he became a Benedictine monk and a priest found that a number of monasteries and served as papal nuncio to Constantinople at age 50 he was elected Pope serving from 590 until his death in 604 as Pope Gregory was direct and firm he removed unworthy priests from office ransom prisoners and cared for persecuted Jews and the victims of plague and famine he is known for his reform of the liturgy and for strengthening respect for doctrine whether or not he was largely responsible for the revision of Gregorian chant is disputed Gregory lived in a time of perpetual strife with invading lombards and difficult

1:45:29relations with the east his book pastoral care which reflected on the duties and qualities of a bishop was read for centuries after his death along with Ambrose Jerome and Augustin Gregory is considered one of the great fathers of the western church there's more about the saints along with inspiration and Catholic resources at our website saintoftheday.org from Franciscan media this has been saint of the day Saint Gregory the great great for us the spirit morning spotlight community this morning is battle Creek Nebraska sunny with highs in the mid 90s in our spirit morning spotlight community of battle Creek Nebraska job yeah a lot battle Creek listening 88.3 KOLB Saint Pat's battle Creek is actually the home of Deakin Mell he is one of the key figures and founders that kind of help get 88.3 88.3 launch and you know we want to thank you Deakin Mell for doing that and of course many more that helps support that Norfolk Northeast Nebraska area

1:46:29love listening in battle Creek Nebraska 88.3 KOLB that's right and of course you can also listen anywhere you go throughout the entire world on the free spirit Catholic Radio app or you can listen online at spirit Catholic Radio dot com tomorrow we will have mass prep with father Taylor leftler that we will have for sure airing during our encore of spirit morning so we are still going to have you prepared for this sunday's mass with Sunday mass prep with father Taylor leftler tomorrow morning it's now time for what's new and the news on spirit mornings one of the things I was getting excited for us school was getting underway for all different ages I was like looking forward to the visits with the Newman centers the and I said this before anytime I talk with students or anybody that's part of the Newman Center at the end of that interview I'm just like yes this is such a great thing to have for these these wonderful young men and women and today we're going

1:47:31to be focusing on the Newman Center at UNO in Omaha we've got Jimmy and Braden are both here hanging out with us here in the studio and as the school year gets underway it's always kind of the the the slamming of festivities like okay here you go especially for freshmen you know it's already kind of this new a whole new world for them but then you have all these great activities planned and we're going to talk about some of the things you have coming up but first explain to us about a Mayas week what what happened during a Mayas week so Mayas week was it's something new that we put on we've never done it before okay essentially all of about 40 student leaders got together people who are at the new Newman Center all the time yeah and it was the week before school started we basically worked and prayed all day that's all we did and it was great we went to places there's two different campuses at UNO we helped move in at both a little bit of evangelization through that helping people move in talking to them about the Newman Center and Biden and the new events

1:48:33but the big thing though it was like we were all together we might have been split into groups but we we prayed resuries together we were everyone even if people weren't there working with us yeah there's a novena going on and it was like everyone was praying and prepping for the year together so it was pretty incredible so many people were talking about that we're participating in this a Mayas week at the Newman Center in Omaha so it was about 40 40 student leaders often on based on people like working stuff every day yeah but then about 150 people prayed the novena with us just students living there as well as people and students living outside of the Newman Center so it was pretty awesome well I want to hear about these Durango days barbecue gentleman I know we all love that so tell me about that in the Durango days and what that's all about oh yeah big time so JP to Newman partners with UNO to put that barbecue on every year and it just kind of extends our reach into the community of UNO as a whole and so I mean UNO has all these resources of like this big newsletter with all their students on it and they have like a group me group chat with I think

1:49:35they just reached a thousand people in that group chat well and so partnering with them for the barbecue is a really good way to just get that reach out and so Jimmy how many people we have there 300 400 500 people 500 people showed up this barbecue you had the Knights of Columbus from Christ the King the King barbecue and cooking for us which was awesome we had Chick-fil-A came in and gave us some chips and condiments you know that Routella Routella is donated all the buns for the burgers and hot dogs wonderful we went through a lot of food so it was good I can't imagine college students would care that much about food so now I want to learn more about your back story as far as your introduction to the Newman Center we'll talk to start with Braden first of Braden what was your introduction like to the Newman Center you know how who nudged you that way I mean obviously the Holy Spirit nudges us at the beginning but what was your introduction like or how did you learn about the Newman Center Braden yeah so I have a pretty easy answer for you my older sister went

1:50:36through the Newman Center okay and so she went all four years she's in grad school now in her last year studying social working criminal justice going she's got a heart of gold going to be a therapist on a farm and so she's still involved with the Newman Center today like I mean it's been six years and so I actually my college decision was between you and K and you know I had a full ride at you and K to go pull vault on their track team wow and I chose Omaha because of the Newman Center wow and so literally just like seeing the impact that Newman had in my sister's life yeah and genuinely just like the desire for more in my own faith life and the desire for a community of people that shares that with me was the big pull for for you and oh and Omaha's a whole well and that would have been a win-win anyway because they have a Newman Center at Carnegie but because your sister is part of the Omaha thing right that was kind of what kind of pushed you towards just staying here because of her experience right well yeah and I mean Omaha has a residence hall which is the big difference so I had visited Carnegie's Newman Center and I visited Omaha's Newman Center and I

1:51:41there's Newman Center's all over the US yeah I think that we have something very very special in Omaha and that's just something I didn't want to miss out on the fact that you were focused on a Newman Center though that's that's kind of the important part because these campuses having these Newman Centers are so good for college students to have and we hear about that all the time with the Newman Centers and how it helps you grow in your faith life and it's really cool to see young men like yourselves and all the students that come through these Newman Centers and the impacts that it has and we see that certainly here in the employees that have been through Newman Centers Jimmy what about yourself what drew you to the Newman Center and what have you taken away from it so I just recently got confirmed this Easter at the Easter vigil congratulations welcome to the church my my cousin actually he lived there at the Newman Center when it first right around when it first opened for a year and he was the one who pushed me to reach out when I was kind of questioning becoming Catholic or not and start OCI process there and I showed up for the OCI kickoff last year it's third week of September we're doing it again so it's looking pretty good yeah but

1:52:45it's been it's been awesome it's been nothing but great grace and it's there's been just full of blessings it's all it's incredible just I feel like compared to even a parish and like going through OCI and a parish was it's still great it's still a wonderful thing yeah just the community that you have like I'm showing up to stuff every day there's an event for me every day men's nights there's community nights there's praise and worship nights like just having that community having that space for daily mass on campus is just incredible and it's done nothing but grow my faith so Jimmy what was your prayer life before the Newman Center then what was you know because that's that's quite and we hear that story all the time of students that come to the Newman Center they decide that's where they're gonna you know become Catholic so what was your prayer life before that I grew up my parents were both raised Catholic but they raised me in my brother Protestant and I didn't they I didn't grow up in a family that prayed really together and it was very like I

1:53:47really know how to pray and very dead otherwise very dead prayer life and Newman Center was kind of where I learned how to pray properly just and just have like true like spoken prayer and it's it was just incredible like just having that space that I can go to daily and work on my prayer work on just having those things in my life that I was missing that yeah you had that empty space in your life exactly yep and that's what the Newman Center offers these students in the different college campuses across the country and I also love that you know some of these students are here from out of town out of state and so they're missing those family dinners but you guys do a Sunday dinner that you kind of want to put out there as well Braden oh yeah so Sunday dinners is new last year we're gonna our second year of that yeah um I might be a little biased year because I I mean I've seen it for a whole year and I love it um but it is I mean the whole point of Newman the entire thing we did during a Mayas week was we went out and invite we met people

1:54:51where they're at right and invite them to Newman well what do you invite them to you know like it sometimes a Bible study is a hard invite yeah and so we kind of look to lower the threshold of like how do we invite them into the community and not necessarily into the the entire church at all or right away right and so foods are great way to do that exactly like you said college students love food and so one of the things we started doing is these Sunday dinners and so we have a group of students that prepares like we make dinner for the rest of the community as a whole and it's one of the easiest things to invite somebody to um this year our Sunday dinners have seen more traction than all of last year just from the efforts of a Mayas week and and that kind of a cohesive mission among the leadership name of like we want to go out we want to invite we have this special thing to us and we want to share that with as many people as we can you know and so Sunday dinners are a great way to do it it's just a time of community a time of I mean we're a family at the Newman Center and so and we really believe that and that's just one way that we we show that love for each other

1:55:53oh it's just like reenacting the last supper yeah you're breaking bread with your fellow students I know there are listeners chomping at the bit wondering okay yeah I would like to help out with Sunday dinners so Jimmy how could a listener be involved with this to help you guys out at the Newman Center in Omaha so right now we're working on a website the page isn't up yet just quite yet there's gonna be a page for donations on on the Newman Center's website okay so that you can donate towards that cost because it costs about five hundred dollars per student dinner but all of the rest of it's cooked by students it's just trying to raise money for food and things like that but um it's also great to have fresh desserts things like that just bake goods um the students love that right college students love free food like that's one of the things and kind of going back to what Braden said too like getting part of bringing people into the doors huge I had a good conversation with this other campus ministries on campus and we get some guys um but just bringing those people

1:56:53and having good conversations with them I have a guy coming to Ocea kick off now because it's that's awesome it's great wonderful yeah you don't overwhelm them with the big picture but you just say hey by the way here's what else we do we you know we eat we pray we do this you know it's a gradual thing and I think that's so great that you're both a part of this uh where can people learn more about the Newman Center in Omaha especially parents and grandparents who have children in high school that might be looking at attending a Newman Center or the one in Omaha where can they find these details either come visit or come to the website that's the biggest thing there's a get connected wet button on the website and students can go into that or parents um schedule some meetings and stuff so very good stuff and that website JP iiomahaw.org uh Jimmy and Braden thank you both so much for joining us we look forward to talking with you again throughout the years we do these what's new at the Newman Center segments uh here on spirit mornings always appreciate you we got about 10 seconds left Jeb thank you for filling in for Jan thanks for having me I'll be filling in back in on Tuesday in the meantime listen to spirit catholic radio we got mass and prayers rosary

1:57:58coming up at 10 o'clock you can now access spirit mornings on your favorite podcast platform find the details at spiritcafleygradio.com slash podcasts thank you for being a part of spirit mornings with Jim Brown and Damian Montez on the spirit Catholic radio network this podcast courtesy of the spirit Catholic radio network to learn more about spirit Catholic radio including how to support spirit Catholic radio and other great programs on the spirit Catholic radio network head to spirit catholic radio.com or download the spirit Catholic radio app